China has sent a team including medical experts to North Korea to advise on the hermit state’s leader Kim Jong-un, according to three people familiar with the situation.
The trip comes amid conflicting reports about Kim’s health, but Reuters was unable to immediately determine what it signalled.
A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with North Korea.
The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
The liaison department could not be reached for comment late on Friday. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Friday.
Daily NK, a website based in the South Korean capital Seoul, reported earlier in the week that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12. It cited one unnamed source in North Korea.
South Korean government officials and a Chinese official with the liaison department challenged subsequent reports suggesting Kim was in grave danger after surgery.South Korean officials said they had detected no signs of unusual activity in North Korea.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump also downplayed earlier reports that Kim was gravely ill.
“I think the report was incorrect,” he said, but he declined to say if he had been in touch with North Korean officials.
On Friday, a South Korean source told Reuters their intelligence was that Kim was alive and would likely make an appearance soon. The person said he did not have any comment on Kim’s current condition or any Chinese involvement.
An official familiar with US intelligence said Kim was known to have health problems but there was no reason to conclude he was seriously ill or unable eventually to reappear in public.
